Will pop culture stardom propel Kamala Harris to the White House?

As Barack Obama locked up the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, John McCain launched an attack ad that tried to demean his younger opponent as a political lightweight by calling him “a celebrity,” on par with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

But Obama’s celebrity status didn’t prevent him from being elected, and political experts say Kamala Harris, suddenly becoming “the coolest thing in pop culture,” could gain an edge in the Nov. 5 election over Donald Trump, who has his own complicated history with celebrity.

Heading into Monday’s Democratic National Convention, the Oakland-reared former prosecutor is “a rock star” on social media with all the coconut-themed TikTok memes and so much else, said Robert M. Shrum, a longtime strategist for Democratic candidates and a USC political science professor.

She’s also packing in crowds at rallies with her amiable everyman running mate Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, and has become “an aspirational figure” for women and young people who are exhilarated about the chance to elect the first female president, said Democratic strategist Chai Komanduri.

“I was really excited to see her,” said Spencer Hall, a San Jose State University sophomore who flew to Las Vegas for the day to join an estimated 15,000 others at her campaign rally. He stood in line for about 10 hours, with a diverse crowd chanting, “We’re not going back.”

During a recent Swing Left Young People for Harris virtual rally, participants hailed her as Queen Brat, referencing dance-pop queen Charli XCX’s endorsement. They also affectionately referred to her by her first name – a sure sign of celebrity, said Jack Pitney, a politics professor at Claremont McKenna College.

But no one can say whether the “Kamalanomenon” excitement will last through the election and sway undecided voters, older white men or others who may not care about her social media stardom. Thus far, though, she’s winning over millennials and Gen-Zers, beating Trump 53% to 36% in a new NextGen America survey of voters under 35. She’s also taken a small lead in the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and raked in $310 million in donations at the end of July.

Since President Joe Biden stepped down as the Democratic presidential candidate on July 21, a buoyant and confident Harris has dominated the news cycles, as well as the celebrity-entertainment media, and not just because her candidacy stops a retread of 2020’s election between two older white men. The relatively youthful 59-year-old Harris also is a Black and South Asian woman who has long been underestimated, even by her own party, fueling an underdog narrative that America loves, journalist Matthew Yglesias wrote in his blog.

Moreover, with her smile, delivery and sometimes goofy humor, she radiates “authenticity” – that “holy grail” in both electoral politics and celebrity, as sociologist Tressie McMillan Cotton wrote in The New York Times.

Those who’ve watched Harris’ rise from San Francisco D.A. to California attorney general, U.S. senator and vice president say the star power was always there. Precious Green, director of community engagement at Manny’s community hub in San Francisco, disputes the idea that she’s an “overnight celebrity.” Once Biden endorsed her as his replacement, Green imagines Harris saying, “You just discovered me? I’ve been at this year for years. I’m ready for Day One.”

Since Harris’ first day as a presidential candidate, her team has unleashed a social media campaign aimed at converting organic excitement about her candidacy into viral posts that tell her story. The team also has seized on her celebrity endorsements, especially from stars with Gen-Z appeal. Beyonce immediately let Harris use her song “Freedom” to push her messages on abortion, gun violence, health care and Trump’s felony convictions, while Megan Thee Stallion delivered a “Hotties for Harris” performance at her first presidential campaign rally in Atlanta. Thus far, Taylor Swift has yet to repeat her endorsement of the 2020 Democratic ticket, but there’s a Swifites for Harris social media movement.

Trump has publicly and privately fumed over the attention Harris is receiving, with the former reality TV star trying to break into news cycles by doing interviews with friendly questioners like Elon Musk or by accusing Harris of faking her crowd sizes. He’s long touted his celebrity affiliations, resulting in what Komanduri calls a “pop culture gender war” between the two campaigns. Trump’s endorsements from Hulk Hogan and UFC’s Dana White ostensibly appeal to men, Komanduri said. However, some of Trump’s past-their-prime celebrity supporters and affinity for “Macho Man” and Frank Sinatra could make him come across as “the cool older uncle to younger men,” or, worse, like a backward-looking candidate, Komanduri said.

The fact that both candidates are wrapping themselves in the aura of celebrity follows decades of conflicting ideas about its role in presidential politics. While critics of Obama and of movie-star-turned-politician Ronald Reagan accused both of lacking substance or experience, Americans also have expected their presidents to be great unifiers and comforters-in-chief — larger-than-life roles suited to charismatic individuals with experience in communicating narratives about themselves to mass audiences.

To a certain extent, the presidency is “a show, it’s a pageant,” said Evan Norman, a Florida-based public relations expert. In this realm, Trump could sell himself to voters in 2016 as the towering, all-knowing business leader he presented in “The Apprentice.”

Some of the most well-regarded presidents of the 20th century attained a veneer of celebrity because they “mastered the media of the day, whether that was the fireside chat of Franklin Roosevelt, the televised debates of John F. Kennedy or the late-night TV appearances of Bill Clinton,” said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego.